The Frost Returns

After a very mild spell on Christmas Day, the air began to chill again on Boxing Day and frost returned the next morning and with it brighter light.

The early frost on Crab Apples, left by wildlife until other fruits and berries become scarce.

 Monday 26th December 2016 started fine once the sun had hauled itself up above the line of dense cloud lying over the South East horizon. All was quiet and still at first, with robins singing, each about ten meters away from its neighbour. Great tits were numerous, some now calling strongly. The robin song diminished and dunnocks took over, singing high fast songs, unusually conspicuous on bare branches above the undergrowth. More were visible but silent, foraging under banks and roots. One I watched for some time - it had chosen the water's edge below the bank and was moving from muddy roots and stalks to half- submerged twigs, clearly searching for insects. Suddenly it darted out onto the surface of the river water, making quite a splash, flying up again instantly with something it had caught on or near the surface of the deep water. This was new to me - I have seen robins 'fishing' but not the more furtive dunnock. Their common name used to be 'hedge sparrow' but they are very different from sparrows.

Wrens, although not singing, were very active amongst the dense, dried out long grasses and dock where they can forage unseen - at this time of the year. When the weather turns cold there is plenty of warm dry dense undergrowth formed by wild grasses and dock where they can find shelter above the river flood level, as well as  in ivy-clad trees.

The sun lit up a coal tit foraging amongst the oak twigs, showing up its fine colours, quite distinct from the great tit - and another coal tit was busy nearby.

Numerous blackbirds, both local residents and winter migrants were foraging all along the banks. There were three now eating the remaining Crab Apples, attacking fruits that were turning dark and soft - and collecting the smaller fruits which had fallen onto the ground, swallowing these whole.

The last of the Crab Apples

Berries are now dwindling rapidly- although about 50% of  Guelder Rose berries remain and fortunately these are very plentiful this year, with many new bushes planted over the recent past

long the riverside.

On older trees, some Maple seeds remain, clinging to twigs but all acorns have disappeared completely from the Oaks and the ground below. Well fed squirrels were chasing each other across the tree tops, amongst the resting woodpigeons - and as the sun reached its zenith - still very low on the horizon, goldcrests, goldfinches, song thrushes and starlings were active and even the house sparrows had woken up in their hedgerows. 

A chill breeze soon picked up and the moment of warmth was over for the day.

The Day Before the Shortest Day

Yesterday,  Tuesday 20th December 2016 was a fine day and I took the opportunity to make a full record along the river, with the low sun lighting up the landscape in the morning. At first the sky was clear but clouds soon moved in, allowing only brief spells of sunlight.

A fine example of winter on the river bank, 

with grasses and other

riverside vegetation dried out in the frosts. Last winter much

vegetation remained green and continued to grow.

The young oak on the right retains its dry brown leaves all through

the winter as do all young oaks. This one was planted by a member

of our group quite a few years ago and is growing slowly, forming

a good round shape.

The river was running low but fast with many overhanging branches still laden with berries where birds have found the twigs too fragile to negotiate when trying to reach out to the tempting feast. These Holly and Hawthorn berries and Dog Rose hips will remain for a while until hungry birds make in-flight dashes to grab them, one by one.

Hazel nuts have long since been eaten or cached and now catkins cover the Hazel trees, colouring the riverbanks in the sun. Broken cloud caused ever-changing colours and luminosity and the day became freezing cold.

Every winter, black-headed gulls visit the grassed areas  near the river and today there were several foraging on the grass with more coming in to land, calling softly (23). All have their winter plumage now.  Only two herring gulls were seen, flying across with carrion crows (9), rooks (8) and jackdaws (2) also seen in the air and on the 'scrape'.

The 'Heron Oak' near the scrape, a popular lookout for for many birds

including Herons, with its view over the new scrape across the river Arun

Grey Herons are commonly seen along the river course here, flying to and from roost places and hunting along the bank and the river itself but little egrets are winter visitors - it was good to see one today:

Shining brilliant white in the low sun a Little Egret leisurely flew low along the river bank trees

downstream and settled on the branch of an old oak to survey the river below.

Normally just two are seen - not far away from each other. They usually appear after the first frosts,

flying up from the south coast where they live during the rest of the year, following the river course

upstream inland where perhaps warmer flowing waters provide more food than icy shallows.

 Blue tits (63) were present in large numbers, in what some call  'roaming flocks' whilst great tits (36) were more often seen lower down amongst oak roots and dry grasses, usually only two or three foraging together. Some were calling intermittently from trees where five long-tailed tits were foraging in the bare branches above.

A few house sparrows were sunning themselves high up in trees but most were foraging low down under hedgerows in small groups (more than 60 individuals). One group had gathered (not for the first time) at the base of a hedgerow which meets the river bank, with a ditch running beside it, draining into the river. This catches the sun and the vegetation soon warms up, encouraging sparrows to bathe in the shallows, then fly up to preen and dry off. 

Other finches, chaffinch (3), greenfinch (1)  were present in small numbers and two bullfinches were heard calling from a thicket, with a third seen flying low across the large pond, its banks full of Gueder Rose - and a group of goldfinches (18) was seen flying across between the trees over the rough grass, followed by a single redwing which dropped down onto some high rose hips. Robins (26) were very easily seen and heard with some seen challenging and chasing each other out of their territory. Today remaining bramble leaves were brightly lit in the sun, their orange and brown colours hiding a perched robin here and there.   

Any disturbance of ivy leaves seen soon revealed a wood pigeon or two clumsily trampling around, slipping and scrambling out to reach the choicest  Ivy berries at the right stage of ripeness. Others were seen sitting motionless in trees, hunched up in the cold when the sun went in (33). 

Higher up in the tree magpies (4), also rather clumsy, were noisily jostling for perches.

Three jays were seen, perhaps seeking out their cached acorns and eleven starlings flew across near their roost. A single treecreeper was just visible creeping along on the underside of an oak branch before disappearing whilst a great spotted woodpecker called and flew out from the top.

Blackbirds (more than 50), numbers multiplied by winter migrants were everywhere, feeding on soft grassy areas under hedges, foraging in the deep interior of bramble bushes and, where fallen leaves lay thick on the ground, tough-looking birds were throwing leaves about. They had also started on the Crab Apples.

Song thrushes (6) were far more cautious and well camouflaged, progressing slowly and methodically across the ground, observing first before probing the ground. One was heard singing but very short snatches of song. Four dunnocks  were seen, two nearby, one singing loudly clearly visible, perched in the sun. Nine silent wrens were busy along the river in various places amongst the roots.

A nuthatch flew over, followed by another, probably a pair, one calling near their traditional nesting place and much further along the river two more nuthatches were calling to each other and beyond them a fifth nuthatch (5). 

Giving a fine demonstration of hovering - tiny goldcrests were seen amongst the brambles very close to me, flying up to the undersides of bramble leaves pecking off sheltering insects, the birds hovering with upturned beaks, wings whirring. Others were seen in a conifer where foraging looked easy in comparison (5).

It was good to hear green woodpeckers again - now jaffling loudly in different locations along the river, one was seen flying low across the rough grass of a drainage basin.

Not only was it good to hear and see the green woodpeckers (3) but hearing them yaffle so frequently is a well known to be a sign of rain!

sure enough it rained the following day….

And a fine mistle thrush was seen and heard singing a full song, perched high up in an old Maple.